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Wednesday, March 16, 2016

a-force vol. 1

Ok. I admit it. I'm a geek.

(And I'm totally ok with that.) I've recently gotten into reading comic books, but, as Stephen isn't that kind of geek, I'm having to find my own way into the things I like.

I loved the Marvel movies, and especially Black Widow's integral role throughout the Avengers (and spinoff) movies. And, I currently hate DC because they have yet to prove to me that they're not sexist, whereas Marvel just came out with A-Force (July 2015). And thus began my descent into the comic book world.

I started off with subscriptions to A-Force and Black Widow. Sadly, Black Widow was cancelled about three issues into my subscription. Bastards. (Though, Marvel did send me Hellcat instead, which I now love.)

A-Force details the saga of group of kickass super-heroines that have replaced The Avengers in the Secret Wars.

Concept Art from Marvel.com

The comic's backstory begins ...
"The multiverse was destroyed! The heroes of Earth-616 and Earth-1610 were powerless to save it! Now, all that remains ... is Battleworld! A massive, patchwork planet composed of the fragments of worlds that no longer exist, maintained by the iron will of its God and Master, Victor Von Doom! Each region is a domain unto itself! This is the story of A-Force."

(Side note: Thank Stan Lee for back stories. I would have no idea what's going on without them ... I still kind of don't.)The women of A-Force live on an island called Arcadia on Battleworld. The comic opens with the women doing their own thing—Dazzler is grocery shopping, Sister Grimm is closing on cereal, Captain Marvel reads and Medusa wakes up next to her man. And the story begins.

"In the vast oceans of our planet, isolated from the forbidden domains of Battleworld, there is an island. Our island is red roofs and friendly dogs, green hills and water blue as heartache. It is bells at dawn and bells at dusk, rising towers of stone and silver, clay and chrome. It is its people, the good, the bad, and all the rest of us—doctors and lawyers, teachers and thieves, scientists, artists, musicians and mystics, brothers- and sisters-in-arms—heroes, and villains. Family and friends. In the shadow of the shield, with the sun on the sea, there is an island. Welcome to Arcadia. It's pretty tight."

Team members are out on "patrol," (assumably operating as a police force) each reporting a quiet night when a giant (seriously, giant ... I mean, it's a friggin Megalodon) shark tears through the ocean's surface (via a dimensional rip? Maybe?). Without giving too much away, they take care of the shark by breaking the "rules" Victor Von Doom had set and someone gets in trouble.

She-Hulk, leader of the A-Force, pleads with the sheriff on troublemaker's behalf, but to no avail. Doom's law is absolute. Troublemaker is gone, and her bestie is pissed with She-Hulk because projection.

The issue closes with a pretty epic assembly of the (a) forces.

"Something has trespassed on our borders, something that is a danger to all Arcadia. What it has set in motion, I cannot say. I do not know where or why that monster appeared—but it cost us one of our own. And more may be coming. Tonight, we are going to learn the truth. We are going to learn the source of the apparition that cost us our sister. We will find this threat. We will root it out. We will know, at last—for good or for evil—what serpents have come into our garden."

And, the cliffhanger rests with a sparkly new friend falling to Arcadia like a meteor. Her name is Singularity.

A-Force is killer gateway comic for me. It's nothing but women being awesome in beautiful illustrations and song-like prose. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend.

If you don't feel like actually reading them, though, I'll be posting summaries for more A-Force and other comic books.